Who Let the Dogs Out?
by Angelina Johnson
Summary: When Brienne Tarth goes on a month-long vacation with her boyfriend, she leaves her dog in the care of Podrick Payne. When her pet turns out to be too much for him to handle, though, Pod finds himself turning to her neighbor Sansa Stark for support... (The modern dog-sitting AU that no one asked for but I wrote anyway.)


**Author's Note: **So I've been wanting to write something Podsa for a while, but ideas eluded me until last week when I misread a message from someone and thought they were talking about Podrick and puppies. I don't remember what they were ACTUALLY talking about, but the idea of Pod with a dog hasn't left me since, and this seemed like a fun chance to finally write a quick little Podsa thing. Only, I'm garbage at writing one shots, because I can outline an entire fic no problem, but lack the patience to actually write the entire thing before I post it. So here, have a little three-part story with nothing but fluff and dog-sitting cuteness.

**Last disclaimer**: I was entirely too lazy to look up where Columbia and NYU are in relation to each other, so... please go easy on me and suspend disbelief of NYC geography for the sake of this fic!

* * *

Sansa Stark is _elated _when she is admitted to Columbia University, but things only got better when she reaches her junior year and is able to move off campus with her best friend Margaery Tyrell.

She still remembers the excitement of that day, carrying boxes up three floors with her large family, unpacking in her room, making her first meal in her first 'adult' apartment. For Sansa, there's something so glamorous and exciting about it, and she is lucky enough to find that her expectations of fabulous apartment living are actually _met_.

She loves what she and Margaery do with their place, and the fact that she is finally allowed to bring her dog Lady to live with her, instead of leaving her home in Winterfell. She never hears people screaming at each other in the middle of the night, she doesn't have neon lights blaring through her windows, and her commute to school is pretty direct on the subway. Their landlord organizes get-togethers for the tenants, and their neighbors turn out to be very endearing.

They find out about the building because Margaery's brother's fiance's nieces, Myrcella and Shireen Baratheon, live there, and it turns out that the two girls are on the same floor as Sansa and Margaery. Shireen is always bringing them cute DIY gifts she's made, and Myrcella occasionally joins Margaery and Sansa for their Bachelor Nation watch parties and wine nights. There is also Davos Seaworth, with his kindly smile and his occasional dad jokes, who Sansa swears has been asked to live there by Stannis Baratheon to keep an eye on Shireen, but she appreciates his presence all the same.

And then there is Brienne Tarth, who somehow becomes Sansa's favorite of all.

Sansa and Brienne meet on the first day, when the tall blonde woman offers to help carry boxes up to Sansa's apartment as she moves in. Sansa is drawn to her kindness, even if Brienne _is _a bit awkward at times. Brienne is someone who Sansa can tell right away doesn't feel comfortable in her own skin, but she is interesting to talk to, and clearly she's lonely. Sansa isn't immediately sure how to connect with the woman, who is a graduate student and a fencing coach at NYU, but when Sansa meets Brienne's dog, Jamie, that is when she knows she's found her in.

Sansa and Brienne start walking Lady and Jamie together, and once they do, they become fast friends. It doesn't take long beyond that for Margaery and Brienne to bond, too, especially once they realize that they have a common acquaintance in Renly Baratheon, Brienne's longtime family friend and Margaery's soon to be brother-in-law.

Still, despite their budding friendships, Brienne is extremely private. It's been months since Sansa moved in, and when she comes over an early December night to bring Brienne a lemon cookie that she's made, she's surprised to see her friend packing as if she's going away for quite some time.

From what Brienne has told Sansa, her social life doesn't extend much beyond the boys she coaches at fencing, her fellow faculty members at occasional university-sponsored events, and Sansa and Margaery. She sees the suitcase and thinks maybe Brienne is going away for a conference, or perhaps has even finished her coursework for the fall semester up early and is going home to visit her father for the holiday break.

She'd _never _expects to find out that Brienne has been hiding a secret boyfriend.

"I'm going away with Jaime for a month. He wants me to see Europe 'the right way,' whatever that means," Brienne explains, and that only makes Sansa _more _confused, rather than less.

"Your _dog _? Wants you to see _Europe _?" she asks her as she scratches behind the mutt's ears, wondering if maybe she'd assumed wrong that she had a lovely, normal bunch of neighbors after all.

"No, no, not _dog _Jamie. _Human _Jaime," Brienne blushes, as if this is a distinction she's had to make many times. "My boyfriend," she adds.

"You've had a boyfriend long enough to name your dog after him and you never even told us?" Sansa asks, gaping at her in surprise. Brienne quickly shakes her head in protest.

"No, no, the dog came with that name when I got him from the shelter. Jaime decided that sharing a name with my dog was a sign that I really ought to go out with him, never mind that their names aren't even spelled the same, but I suppose a couple of months ago I finally agreed, and well… things escalated a bit quickly."

Sansa figures she will get into the _why _of her friend keeping such a big secret later. Right now, she squeals excitedly, grabs Brienne's hand and drags her away from the packing, and takes her down the hall, saying, "Margaery's going to be _so _excited when she hears this!"

* * *

Getting _into _New York University is something that Podrick Payne's family consider a 'great achievement,' but unfortunately, his college acceptance seemed to be where his achievements _end _.

It's been more than two years now, and Podrick doesn't have much to show for it. He doesn't stand out among his classmates — isn't the best, the brightest, any -_ ests _, really. But Pod loves his school, he's kind to everyone around him (and that seems to go a long way), and he is pretty sure he's his fencing coach's favorite, if he does say so himself.

Podrick's not the best on the team by any stretch of the imagination, but he works hard, always asking Coach Tarth to stay after practice and work with him on specific moves. Then he practices them even more once she's gone home, and he impresses her the next day with how much he's improved even just overnight.

Brienne Tarth doesn't impress easily, but by the end of his freshman year, he's sure he's got her smiling _at least _from his enthusiasm, and by the end of sophomore year, she might even be smiling because Pod's doing a good _job _. When he returns to start his third year at school, she seems genuinely happy to have him back, and Podrick thinks that she _must _approve of him now, she _must _.

And even if he _isn't _100% sure then, he is when the Christmas holidays approach and Coach Tarth asks him almost _shyly _if he's staying in New York for the break, because she's looking for someone to take care of her dog while she's traveling. Her neighbors all have trips home to see their families planned, and besides, the one's she's closest to have a dog of their own to worry about, it would be such a hassle for them to try to walk two at once in such a busy city.

Pod and his family aren't particularly close; he's never much felt like he fits in with the rest of the Paynes, so he jumps at the opportunity. He'd much rather be in New York, and if he's getting paid to take care of an adorable dog _and _earning more goodwill with Coach Tarth in the process, the decision is a bit of a no-brainer.

Two days before Coach Tarth is set to leave, Podrick stops by her apartment to meet the dog. She lives closer to him than he realized, and it won't be any problem at all to come by a few times a day to feed, water, and walk him.

The dog doesn't take to Podrick immediately — in fact, it lifts its leg and about goes to the bathroom on his _shoe _within the first five minutes — but he's sure that'll change as they spend the next few weeks together. Coach Tarth shows him where she keeps his supplies, gives him a map of her usual walking routes, and even shows him how to use her television, just in case he ever wants to stay in the living room for a bit and keep Jamie company.

"All right, and here's my emergency contact information, in case anything happens and you need to get in touch," Coach Tarth says as they finish up their meet and greet, and Podrick's eyes scan over the paper.

"Your dog has a cellphone?" he asks when he sees the name _Jaime _scribbled on the paper, and he's seen his coach blush before, but never quite as deeply as she does when she says, "No, no, that's _human _Jaime. He's who I'll be traveling with; Dog Jamie, as you _know _, is staying here with you."

Podrick laughs a little sheepishly at that, embarrassed for not realizing that right away, but wishes his coach a very happy holiday and says he'll be back to see dog Jamie in two days time. The last thing he promises before Coach Tarth closes the door on him is that she doesn't need to worry about a thing while she's away.

* * *

It takes a lot of needling, and a little bit of wine, but Sansa and Margaery finally get the story of Brienne and human-Jaime out of her the night before her trip.

Apparently, Jaime Lannister is someone Brienne interviewed at the start of last summer for research she was conducting at NYU. He was infuriating, she recalls, teasing her and hardly giving her a _thing _to work with during the interview. She complains that it was all highly unprofessional, and Sansa giggles at the way Brienne's eyes are alight even as she moans about what an _obnoxious _man she has fallen for.

When he had told Brienne she'd just need to interview him again if she wanted more information, he'd slipped her his phone number and she'd only _reluctantly _used it again about a month later. He'd been even more obnoxiously charming the second time, but Brienne had wanted to forget all about him. When Margaery begs to know _why _, when it sounds like he was clearly flirting with her the whole time, Brienne says that he's _very _handsome, not the type of man she thought would ever be interested in someone who looks like _her _, and the two girls coo over how lovely Brienne is, outside and especially in.

She admits that _obviously _Jaime sees whatever it is her two friends see, because after their second meeting, they bumped into each other while she was walking her dog and he took to walking _with _her. First he would just claim he was on his way somewhere in the same direction she headed, and then once he'd found out the dog was named _Jamie _he'd said it was a sign, and that he _clearly _couldn't leave her alone now. They'd been together since September, and Brienne hadn't wanted to talk about it in case he came to his senses and realized he could find someone more his… _level _.

Only she says that Jaime just seems more and more serious about her all the time, if this month-long trip through Europe is any indication. Brienne admits that perhaps she should have told them sooner, but she didn't want to get her hopes up too much by sharing the news. It would have only made it hurt more had it ended, to have Margaery and Sansa know all about this man she's quite smitten with.

They finally send Brienne home to finish packing with just a few hours left before her flight, and the next morning, Sansa rises earlier than she would to walk Lady, trying to catch a glimpse of Jaime Lannister when he shows up with his driver to pick up Brienne.

She doesn't see them when she walks circles around the block, though, and finally Sansa crawls back into bed, exhausted, and doesn't wake until it's nearly 3 p.m. and time to walk Lady again.

It'll be a little lonely, she thinks, walking Lady for the next couple of weeks without Brienne and Jamie — and that's when Sansa realizes she was so busy fussing over Brienne and her exciting love-life to even ask _where _her dog's best puppy pal will be staying for the next few weeks.

* * *

Podrick's decided that he'll let Jamie out three times most days — first thing in the morning, mid-afternoon, and late evening, just before bedtime. It works with his exam schedule, and then he'll be off school entirely and might even stop by more times a day.

The day Coach Tarth leaves, he heads over for the first time around 3 p.m., thinking that this will be some of the easiest money he's ever made. The dog is cute, and he's wanted a pet of his own for ages, just hasn't had a living arrangement where it's been possible yet. This will be good practice for after graduation, when he upgrades from a roommate to a dog instead.

Sure, there was the near-peeing incident, but Podrick is sure that was a fluke. He'll treat Coach Tarth's dog so well that they'll be the best of friends in no time.

Only… Podrick buzzes into his coach's apartment building, and when he gets upstairs, he pulls out a key ring and realizes he's not sure which key is hers, if he's even remembered to put it on the ring at all.

He can hear Jamie's collar jingling inside, yipping softly at the sound of him hopelessly jiggling the doorknob. Pod tries key after key — when has he gotten so _many? — _ but none seem to work, and he feels absolutely hopeless. It's his first visit and he's already mucked it up, with the dog's barks growing more frantic.

His only consolation is that no one is here to _see _him fumbling with the door and failing to get inside, but even that is short-lived. Down the hall, he hears footsteps climbing the stairwell, and then out steps a huskie and a rather tall girl with shiny red hair and dazzling blue eyes. She stops in place immediately at the sight of him.

"Are you trying to _burgle _Brienne's apartment?" she asks, and Podrick is horrified for a moment until he notices that she doesn't actually _look _scared of him. She might even be teasing him, but Pod's in no mood for joking, not when he's blundered his job when it's barely even begun.

"I'm _trying _to walk Jamie for her, but uh… I can't seem to find the key," he admits miserably. The girl has taken tentative steps towards him now, close enough so that her huskie is sniffing at him curiously, but the dog doesn't seem to have any objection to his presence, so the pretty girl from down the hall seems more at ease, too.

Still, she eyed him curiously, and Pod rambled, "I'm Podrick Payne, I'm on her fencing team, and she asked me to dog-sit, but I'm not a very good dog-sitter if I lose her key and have to kick down the door on the first day, am I?"

Then a thought strikes him, and Pod reaches into his pocket, where he'd thought to stick the emergency contact list in as he'd walked out of his apartment earlier. He scans past Brienne Tarth and Jaime Lannister on the list — even if he _did _want to admit defeat to them, they're likely miles up in the air now, crossing the Atlantic. Then he gets to the third name, a neighbor that Coach had written down for him to reach out to, and he says, "I'll just call this, um… Sansa Stark."

The girl actually _laughs _at that, flipping her long hair over her shoulder as she says excitedly, "Ooooh, Brienne trusts me to be more responsible than Margaery?" Then she seems to remember herself as she adds, " _I'm _Sansa Stark, and I'm pretty sure that's her key there, the little round silver one. But if it's not, I've got a spare in my kitchen, I can go and grab it for you," she offers, and suddenly, Podrick's day is back on track.

"Brilliant, you're a lifesaver," he says as the silver key slides easily into the doorknob and he finally twists the handle. Brienne's dog jumps onto Sansa the second that the door is open, and she crouches down to pet him happily.

"Hello, Jamie! Are you excited for your walk? Lady and I just went, I'm sorry we won't be joining you today, but Podrick's here to take great care of you now that he's gotten the door open, isn't that right?" she cooed, using that voice girls always save for babies and cute animals. It's incredibly endearing, the way that the dog seems thrilled to see its neighbor, and after a few more pats Sansa stands back up and blocks the door so that Jamie has to go back inside.

"Well, then — I should get home, but good luck! If you ever need any help, I'm just next door, and Brienne's already given you my phone number," she offers kindly, and Podrick thanks her and bids her good day.

As he steps inside to find Jamie's leash and doggie bags, he's left wondering whether he hopes he doesn't have a reason to see Sansa again, or whether he might like it better if he _does _.


End file.
